Basic Handling of Multiple Data Sources

By default, each data source that you open is displayed in a new Data Editor window. (See General options for information on changing the default behavior to only display one dataset at a time, in a single Data Editor window.)

• Any previously open data sources remain open and available for further use.
• When you first open a data source, it automatically becomes the active dataset.
• You can change the active dataset simply by clicking anywhere in the Data Editor window of the data source that you want to use or by selecting the Data Editor window for that data source from the Window menu.
• Only the variables in the active dataset are available for analysis.
• You cannot change the active dataset when any dialog box that accesses the data is open (including all dialog boxes that display variable lists).
• At least one Data Editor window must be open during a session. When you close the last open Data Editor window, IBM® SPSS® Statistics automatically shuts down, prompting you to save changes first.

Note: If you use command syntax to open data sources (for example, GET FILE, GET DATA), you need to name each dataset explicitly in order to have more than one data source open at the same time. See the topic DATASET NAME for more information.